


25 Days of Xmas '17

by whatarubberchicken



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 2k17, Multiple ships, Xmas Prompts, multiple characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-08-29 12:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 17,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16743913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatarubberchicken/pseuds/whatarubberchicken
Summary: A series of drabbles based on the prompts from 25daysofml2k17. All Christmas themed, some related. Mostly fluff and humor, with some angst thrown in occasionally.





	1. Chapter 1

**December 1st - “Santa ‘Claws’”**

“Marinette!” Sabine called up to her room. “You have a package down here!”

“I do?” Marinette asked, surprised. She went down to see her mother holding a small, brown box. It was about the size of both her hands put together. “Who’s it from?”

“It doesn’t say,” Sabine said as Marinette took it. “But it does smell strange.” Marinette sniffed it herself and grimaced. Old smelly socks? Maybe it was a prank from Chloe. But no, she knew Chloe’s handwriting, and Sabrina’s, and the undignified scrawl of her name and address were nothing like either of their handwriting. There was nothing else on the package to suggest where it might’ve come from… except a tiny black paw print on one corner.

Inside her jacket, she heard Tikki squeak in surprise.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said quickly. “I’ll just go open this upstairs, so it doesn’t stink up the kitchen, all right?” Holding the package carefully, she fled back up to her room. “Tikki, do you know what this is?” she asked quietly, once they were alone.

“No, but I know who it’s from,” Tikki said, zipping out of her jacket to inspect the box further. “That’s Plagg’s pawprint.”

“Plagg?”

“Chat Noir’s kwami.”

“Oh,” Marinette stared down at the little box, panic rising. “Oh my God! Does this mean Chat knows who I am?!”

“Unlikely,” Tikki sniffed, eying the box distrustfully. “It just means Plagg was feeling bored. He does things like this, just to annoy me. I’m, uh… also not sure how safe it might be.”

“It’s not, like, a bomb, or something, is it?” Marinette asked, holding the box away from herself.

“Probably not? He’s just got a strange sense of humor sometimes,” Tikki sighed.

“You’re not making me feel any better. We’ll open it on the balcony, just in case.”

Decision made, they headed up, making sure to close the hatch and clear a space for opening what Marinette was now calling the Box of Doom in her head. She was fairly certain Chat Noir wouldn’t let his kwami send her something harmful, but that boy still thought he was going to win her affection with cat puns, so…. They opened it slowly, carefully. As though any moment it might burst open and attack them. Marinette was half-tempted to transform for this.

Until she saw what was inside.

She covered her mouth her hand, both to hide her silent laughter and to escape the pungent smell from the “gift.” Because, inside, lovingly tied with a cheerful, red ribbon was—

“Is that a wheel of cheese with chocolate chips shoved in it?”

“Yes. Yes, it is,” Tikki deadpanned. Marinette could barely control her laughter. It looked like a chocolate chip cookie!

“Looks like he knows you pretty well,” she said, in between snickers, reading the little tag that proudly proclaimed: “To Tikki, from your Santa Claws!” Tikki sighed, but was unable to stop the smile spreading over her tiny face.

“He’s hopeless,” she giggled. “Utterly hopeless.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know I'm a year late. ^_^

**December 2nd - “Ugly Sweater”**

“Adrien, come out!”

“No! I’m not wearing it and that’s final!”

“Adrien…,” Natalie sighed and slumped outside the boy’s bedroom door. Of all times for his teenage rebellion to rear its head! The company Christmas party would be starting in a few minutes, and Gabriel would be furious if they were late.

“Natalie, what is going on here?”

_Speak of the devil…._

“I’m sorry, sir, but Adrien is refusing to wear the sweater you sent for him to wear to the party,” she said, quickly straightening up.

“It’s ugly!!” Adrien’s voice shouted through the door. Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

“It’s supposed to be, Adrien,” he said calmly. “The main event of this year’s Christmas party is to have an Ugly Sweater Contest. I myself am wearing a design based on the horrific work of that little intern who dared to pad her resume this summer—”

“You are totally missing the point!!” Adrien yelled, flinging his door back open so he could face his father. “The ‘ugly sweaters’ in the contest are supposed to be funny! And Christmas-themed! Not actually look like puke!” His son gestured to himself. “This is what we’re _supposed_ to be wearing!!” Gabriel regarded his son’s attire for a moment.

His sweater was mostly red, with a large black cat face on the front and bold green letters spelling out “HAVE A MEOW-VELOUS CHRISTMAS!” The cat’s collar had a bunch of real bells on it, that jingled whenever Adrien moved. A bit loud, perhaps, but not entirely tasteless. And the pun was cute. His wife would’ve loved it.

“I don’t see how that’s considered ugly,” he said. “And the wording is both festive and clever.” Adrien gaped at him, blinking in silence for a few moments.

“Who are you and what have you done with my father?”

Gabriel glared at his son. “We are going to be late.”

“And _you_ are gonna make people lose their eggnog if they have to look at you in that,” Adrien countered, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“Well, unless you have another—”

Gabriel was left standing as Adrien rushed back into his room, returning triumphantly moments later with another sweater. Gabriel’s eye twitched involuntarily. This one was also red, but very-obviously Ladybug-themed. It featured Ladybug’s yo-yo with a Santa hat on it and big silver-and-black lettering across the chest that spelled out “YO YO YO.” Natalie let out a very-unbelievable cough.

“And look!” Adrien said eagerly. “The letters light up!” He fiddled with it for a moment and, sure enough, soon the letters were flashing in an array of different colors.

“Do you need a cough drop, Natalie?” Gabriel hissed as his assistant had another fit.

“No, sir,” Natalie replied, clearing her throat one more time. “Just a tickle in my throat. It’s gone now. Shall I leave you to change?” Gabriel made the mistake of looking at his son’s bright, eager face and reluctantly nodded.

“I’ll get my coat!” Adrien said excitedly, handing his father the still-blinking sweater and disappearing into his room again.

“Let us never speak of this again,” Gabriel growled after his assistant.

“Of course not, sir,” Natalie replied, as calm as ever.

And if she slipped her spare phone into her pocket, just in case he confiscated the other one, well, the camera was just as good.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: WaRC does not approve of the use of drugs except for medicinal purposes. Please act responsibly this holiday season. This has been a public service announcement from your local rubber chicken. Also, I still don’t own Miraculous. Meh.

**December 3rd - “Peppermint”**

Ladybug rubbed her temples, trying to stave off the impending headache. The fact that her lap was currently full of an overgrown, leather-clad, completely-indolent cat was not helping things in the least.

“All right, Chat,” she tried again to stop him from rubbing his head into her stomach, “what have we learned from this… experience?”

“Your favorite color is pink,” he replied dreamily.

“No, you knew that before,” she corrected.

“And it’s why I got you the pink flowers. They smelled sooo good,” he purred, his head butting up against her hand. She pushed him away. Again.

“Chat…,” she said warningly. “ _What have we learned?”_

“Don’t…ummm… don’t trust old flower ladies… when you say you want peppermint for your _sweet, sweet lady_ ,” he rubbed his head up her arm again and she shook her head at him and pushed him back by his nose. He pouted, but managed to finish his sentence. “And the evil flower lady tells you ‘she’ll like this mint better ‘cause she likes cats’ and winks at you and— you _don’t_ like this one better—and you’re mad at me now, and don’t be mad at me, my _sweet_ , lovely lady!” He dove back into her lap, wrapping his arms around her, purring and rubbing his face on her stomach again.

Ladybug groaned, all efforts to pry him off her in vain. She’d asked her partner to get her some peppermint leaves for tea, mostly because he’d said he was bored. She hadn’t expected him to mistakenly go to a florist instead of a grocery store, much less one who would take advantage of his innocence!!

“We need to go have a talk with this ‘flower lady’ who decided to give you catmint instead of peppermint,” she growled, staring at the discarded ‘bouquet’ in displeasure. The pink flowers really were kind of pretty, but she didn’t want it anywhere near her if it was going to affect her partner like this. “I can only imagine how Hawkmoth would react if he found out you were so sensitive to the stuff.”

Chat Noir looked up at her with a dopey smile, his pupils still blown wide. “I love you,” he said happily.

“You’re high.”

“We are on top of a building together,” he agreed, nodding. Then he blinked and started singing. “On top of _spaghetti_ , all covered with _cheese_ ….”

“Higher than a kite.”

“Noooo, I don’t think I can fly,” he said, turning upwards to look at the sky. “Maaaaybe?” Ladybug quickly took the opportunity to slip out of his grasp. Chat whined.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing her yo-yo. “Can you remember where you bought the flowers?”

“Nope.”

Ladybug looked down at her partner, ready to lay into him again, when she noticed his focus had shifted completely. He was now intently watching the movement of her yo-yo.

“Chat?” she called, moving the yo-yo from side to side. Sure enough, his eyes followed it.

“Ball,” he whispered.

Ladybug giggled. She couldn’t resist. “Does the kitty want to play?” she asked teasingly, doing a quick Around-the-World and a Walk-the-Dog. In answer, Chat sprang at the yo-yo. She gasped and squealed in surprise and let him chase her for a few minutes, trying to keep the yo-yo away from him. Chat delighted in this new game, looking happier than ever as he chased her around the roof.

No doubt, Tikki would scold her later for taking advantage of his state, and she was sure there would be trouble if any civilians saw them like this, but for now, life had been kind of stressful lately, and just innocently playing with her partner couldn’t hurt anyone, right? Of course, afterwards, she’d make him drink some water, get him some food from the bakery, and just generally make sure he didn’t hurt himself like this. Hopefully he’d be back to normal after he slept it off.

And she was _never_ asking him to go get her peppermint ever again.


	4. Chapter 4

**December 4th - “Snow”**

Tom Dupain sighed as yet another customer trudged in. Admittedly, most people did their best to stomp the snow off their boots before stepping off the welcome mat and into the bakery shop proper, but it didn’t get everything. It could only help. The stuff melted. And it got _everywhere_.

This was already his third time mopping this morning.

“I hate snow,” he grumbled lowly, so the customer couldn’t hear.

“Oh hush,” Sabine said to him quietly. “Snow is beautiful. And when Marinette gets home, it’ll be her turn to mop it up while you go back to the ovens.”

“Didn’t she tell you?” Tom sighed. “She’s going over to Alya’s today to work on their science project.”

“Oh, right. Which is code for them giggling about boys and mistletoe,” Sabine said, grinning as she gave their customer his change and waved as he left. Tom sighed again and followed the wet footprints towards the door, mopping them up.

“I hate snow,” he repeated. Sabine giggled at him, stepping out from behind the counter.

“Oh, don’t you—WHOA!”

Tom lunged, just barely catching his wife before she hit her head when she slipped on the wet floor. He held onto her tightly as they both continued to try not to lose their balance; there were a few moments of shifting and sliding and holding desperately onto each other before they finally managed to grab onto the counter. They both relaxed, breathing deeply. Then they looked at each other and abruptly burst out laughing at the same time.

“That was worse than the first time we tried ice skating together!” Tom howled.

“Oh, don’t even mention that!” Sabine said, wiping her tears. “I swear I still have bruises, and it was _years_ ago!!”

“It was snowing then too,” Tom said, remembering the open-air skating rink and the date with his then-girlfriend. He looked at his wife and smiled. “You looked like an angel with the snowflakes in your hair.” Sabine smiled back and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“And you were my hero who always helped me back up or caught me when I fell, never once laughing at my clumsiness,” she said. She eyed the tiled floor of the bakery critically. “Let’s close up for a few minutes. I’m going to go see if Marinette has any more of that spare fabric she used upstairs that I can turn into rug, so our customers don’t kill themselves on this floor.”

“And I have an idea for a new cookie design I want to try,” Tom agreed.

When the bakery re-opened that afternoon, maybe people complimented them on the festive new rug running down the middle of the shop. And the new sugar cookies, shaped like snowflakes and angels and iced artfully in blue and silver frosting, sold out before closing that day.


	5. Chapter 5

**December 5th - “Shopping”**

“Most wonderful time of the year, my a—”

Adrien quickly clamped down on his friend’s mouth, grinning apologetically at a pair of glaring mothers with their small children nearby. Nino took his chastisement in stride however, and easily let himself be led away before Adrien released him.

“Sorry, dude,” Nino said, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. “It’s just, it’s the one time of the year where you’re _expected_ to get the _perfect_ gift for the most…” He trailed off, searching for an adequate word.

“Amazing?” Adrien supplied.

“Yes!”

“Adorable?”

“Yes!”

“Irresistible?”

“Hell, yes!”

“Incredibly headstrong?”

“Exactly!”

“Best girl in all of Paris?” Adrien finished. Nino let out a deep breath and sagged, only able to nod as his head drooped. Adrien smirked. “Why are you buying presents for Marinette?”

“Dude! I was talking about Alya!” Nino exclaimed, punching him on the shoulder.

“No, I’m pretty sure I was describing Marinette.”

Nino shook his head at him. “Dude, I swear, if you don’t ask her out before Christmas, I’m tying you up and leaving you on her doorstep with a big red bow,” he growled. Adrien snickered, but shook his head.

“I’m working on it,” he muttered, kicking a bit of imaginary dirt.

“Work faster,” his friend advised.

“I just need to get her the perfect present first,” Adrien insisted. Nino sighed.

“Which brings us back to… this,” he agreed, indicating the multiple shops all around them. “Ugh, girls are so complicated!”

“Yours isn’t,” Adrien said with a frown. “Just get her something Ladybug-themed and she’ll be all over it.”

“She already has, like, _everything_ Ladybug-themed already!” Nino exclaimed.

“I bet we can find _something_ ,” Adrien insisted. “It’s Marinette that’s gonna be a problem to shop for.”

Nino blew a raspberry. “Just get her something from your father’s company and she’ll be all over it.” Adrien gave him a droll stare.

“I’d like to be more than just ‘my father’s son’ to her,” he said.

“She likes fashion though, right?” said Nino, peering into a nearby shop. “Maybe some clothes?”

“I don’t know her size,” Adrien admitted, “and I think she likes to make her own clothes.”

They passed the store with a shrug. The next shop was a jewelry store, but they both quickly agreed that they were nowhere near that level in either of their relationships. Down further was a lingerie store, which they power-walked by with red faces and an identical mantra of “nope, nope, nope!” The shop beside it however, they paused at.

“Candy? Everybody likes candy, right?” Adrien said hopefully.

“Yeah, but it’s probably not enough for the main present,” Nino said regretfully. “Maybe add some on the side?” Adrien nodded and eyed the next shop. It was full of lotions, perfumes, body sprays, and other scented products.

“Girls like this kind of stuff, right?”

“Oh, definitely,” Nino said, his eyes lighting up. “My mom comes here all the time!”

Adrien bit his lip. “I don’t know what kind of scent Marinette would like, though,” he said uncertainly. She reminded him of cookies, and sugar, and fresh bread, and all good things usually denied to him at home—which made him even more determined to make sure she was part of his life—but he didn’t know if she actually _wanted_ to smell that way, or if it was just because she lived above a bakery.

“Yeah, Alya either,” Nino admitted, his shoulders slumping a bit. “I’m telling you, man. Girls are waaay too complicated. Maybe we go in and just guess which scent we think they’ll like?” Adrien was about to agree when, all of a sudden, a couple burst out of the shop.

“I’ve never liked lavender, Pierre! It’s always been sweet pea for me! Who have you been with that makes you think of lavender, huh??” the woman was screaming at the red-faced man with her.

“I’m sorry, honey, I just thought it smelled nice….”

“It’s Stacy, isn’t it?? I knew it!”

“No, honey, I swear….”

Nino and Adrien glanced at each other and quickly turned on their heels.

“So, Ladybug-themed stuff it is,” Nino said, nodding to himself.

“I think my father has an extra bolt of imported fabric that supposed to be hard to find. I bet Marinette would love it,” Adrien said.

Neither of them dared to look back.


	6. Chapter 6

**December 6th - “Fuzzy”**

“Max? Oh, Maaax….” Kim’s sing-song voice broke through the haze of sleep that enfolded him. Max groaned when the fog refused to lift completely as he struggled to come awake. The steady pounding in his head discouraged him from trying too hard, though. What had happened to him?

“Max, buddy! You awake?”

“Ugh, please, not so loud, Kim,” Max finally managed to groan. “I appear to have acquired a dehydration headache this morning.”

“It’s called a hangover, dude,” Alix’s voice piped up on his other side. Max finally opened his eyes to squint in her direction. Even without his glasses, he could see her smirk as she held out a glass of water and a bottle of pain killers. He took them, his nervousness increasing.

“You are the only guy I know who can’t hold his eggnog, buddy,” Kim said, grinning and handing him his glasses so he could sit up and take his medication properly.

“What did I do?” Max groaned. “My memories are fuzzy.”

Chloe had held a Christmas party, and someone had brought alcoholic eggnog instead of the virgin stuff he was used to, that he could deduce….

“Funny you should mention that word,” Alix drawled.

“Alix, be nice…,” Kim warned, but he was already snickering.

“The Miraculous Squad crashed the party about halfway through the party, and you mistook Chat Noir for your long-lost cat, ‘Fuzzy,’” Alix continued mercilessly. Max froze, staring at her in horror. Sniggering, she tapped on her phone and held it out for him to see, the video already playing.

Sure enough, there he was, obviously deep in his cups and sitting in a chair with Chat Noir’s head clutched in his lap, cooing as he petted the superhero’s kitty ears. The camera zoomed in on Chat’s face for a moment. He was wide-eyed, arms flailing helplessly, and obviously mouthing something like, “OH MY GOD, WHAT DO I DO? SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP!!” before awkwardly patting Max on the head and muttering, “Yeah, man, Fuzzy loves you too.”

At this point, the camera panned around to show Ladybug collapsed on Rena Rouge’s shoulder, both of them nearly crying in laughter. Carapace was also recording, grinning broadly at his friend’s predicament while Queen Bee just shook her head nearby.

“Are you all right now?” an annoyed voice broke through the video. Max looked up to see Chloe standing nearby, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Belatedly, he realized he was still in her father’s hotel, obviously not having made it home.

“I’ve been better,” he said. “Though it seems I need to commit seppuku.”

“Aww, it wasn’t that bad, buddy,” Kim said, punching his shoulder.

“I shudder to think what Paris’s superheroes think of me right now,” Max said, hanging his head.

“Are you kidding?” Chloe snorted. “I’ve never seen Ladybug laugh so hard in all my life. She’ll probably send you a thank-you card or something. The biggest complaint any of them made was Queen Bee asking what kind of name ‘Fuzzy’ was for—"

“I was two when I named him!” Max exclaimed. “I had that cat most of my life!”

Chloe held up her hands in surrender. “As your friends _loudly_ pointed out last night,” she said, with an obvious glance at Kim and Alix.

“Don’t worry, Maxy, we went to bat for ya,” Alix said, punching his other shoulder. Sometimes Max wished his best friends were a bit less physical. Still, he loved them all the same.

“You stood up to a superhero for me?” he asked, awed. “Kim, Alix… I’m touched.” They grinned back at him proudly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chloe drawled, killing the mood. “If you’re all better now, you can go home so housekeeping can finally clean up in here.” Max agreed, and Kim and Alix helped him to his feet.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” he said to Chloe.

“Hey, Kanté,” she called after he’d turned away. Max looked back at her in surprise. “You about ready to get over that cat?”

“ _Chloe_!” Kim growled angrily.

“Chill, lughead, let me finish,” she said crisply. She put her hand on her hip. “What I mean is, I drew your name for the class’s Secret Santa and I didn’t know what to buy you. But, if you want, I can get you a new cat for your Christmas present.” Max’s jaw dropped. “But I’ll only get it if you want one. And only if you promise to name it something better than ‘Fuzzy.’”

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Max stuttered.

“A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ would be nice,” Chloe said dryly, examining her nails. Max thought for a moment. It had been awhile since his beloved pet had died; was he ready to move on?

“Yes,” he said finally. “I’d love a cat for Christmas. Thank you, Chloe.”

“Whatever,” she said, waving her hand in a dismissal, “you still don’t get it until the Christmas party. Later!”

“Wow,” Alix said as they headed home, “who knew Chloe could be so nice?”


	7. Chapter 7

**December 7th - “Gift”**

(A continuation of Dec. 1st – “Santa Claws”)

Adrien trudged into his house at last, tired to the bone. Today had been rough. A dawn photoshoot (to get that perfect light!), then school, then an akuma during school, then fencing after school, then a Chinese lesson after fencing, and everything topped off with a piano recital, that his father missed. Again.

He loosened his tie irritably and wondered if Natalie had even bothered to record it for the man to watch later. Probably not. His father had been very busy lately. No need to bother him with trivial things like something his son had worked on for _weeks_ ….

“Adrien, you have a package,” Natalie called, stopping him before he could get up the stairs to his room. He blinked in surprise as she handed him a medium-sized, but rather-lightweight box.

“What’s this?” he wondered aloud.

“There’s no return address,” Natalie said. “But I’m fairly certain it’s safe.” She tapped on a far corner of the package, where there was a little red circle. Curious, Adrien examined it closer. His eyes widened when he realized it wasn’t a circle, it was a ladybug! Ladybug’s own signature, at that! Blushing, he clutched the package to his chest and laughed nervously at Natalie.

“I’ll just… go… open this in my room, then!” he said lamely, dashing the rest of the way upstairs and into his room before she could even think to call him back.

“Plagg,” he whispered excitedly as he shut the door behind him. “Does this mean Ladybug knows who I am?”

“Doubt it,” Plagg said, also grinning. “It’s probably a response from Tikki for the gift I sent her. Hurry and open it! Oh, I hope it’s cheese….”

It _was_ cheese. Freshly-baked cheese danishes to be precise. Adrien’s mouth watered as Plagg gave a happy squeal and scooped one up immediately, dancing with it in midair. Those smelled _amazing_.

“Tikki always gives the best gifts!!” Plagg gushed, his mouth already full. After the day he’d had, Adrien was about ready to get on his knees and beg his kwami for a share, but, as always, manners won out, and first he opened the folded note that had been placed inside the package.

“’To my Santa Claws, from Tikki,’” he read, smiling. “’Ladybug and I wish you and Chat Noir a very Merry Christmas! And, since I know how much of a glutton you are,’” he laughed as the note continued, “’we would like to inform Chat Noir that there’s more where that came from if he’d like to join Ladybug at Notre Dame around ten tonight. ;)’” Grinning broadly, Adrien looked up at his kwami mischievously. They still had a few minutes before ten, but his stomach was growling _now_ and Plagg was already halfway through his pastries. He doubted the kwami had even heard him read the note.

“Hey, Plagg, you know it’s the season for sharing, right?” he asked innocently.

“No way, kid, I will fight you for these!” Plagg growled through his current mouthful.

“Fine, you asked for it,” Adrien said, holding up his hand and smirking. Plagg’s eyes went wide.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

_“Plagg, claws out!”_

_“Nooooooo!!!”_

Chat Noir helped himself to one of the remaining danishes. “All’s fair in love and war,” he snickered as he savored a bite. “And I _love_ these. But don’t worry, buddy, we’re going for more. This just gives me more incentive to make Ladybug fall for me. Definitely, _definitely_ gotta marry that girl,” he nodded to himself as he sprang out into the night.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written before "Sapotis" came out, when I still thought Master Fu would be responsible enough to hand out the Miraculous himself. Oh well.

**December 8th - “Jingle Bells”**

“Soo, how many ways can you remix ‘Jingle Bells’ before it gets old?” Alya asked, coming up behind Nino as he listened to his music on the stairs to the school. He took off his headphones and leaned back to grin at her.

“Babe, music is art. If you’ve got talent, the possibilities are _endless_ ,” he said.

“So, like, two or three?”

“Harsh,” Nino pouted. “I’ll have you know I have over ten remixes for that song alone, already!”

“Do you change the lyrics too?”

“Huh?”

“You know, like…,” Alya thought for a moment before singing,

_“Jingle Bells, Hawkmoth smells,_

_Ladybug is the bomb!_

_My DJ makes my day,_

_As we jam out to this song!!”_

Nino laughed and gave her a little applause. Alya bowed.

“Not bad,” he acknowledged. “Needs a little work, but not bad.” Alya punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“I’d like to see you do better,” she challenged.

“Nah, I’m not really a lyrics guy,” Nino said, shaking his head. “I’ll stick with my beats.”

“Fine,” Alya grumbled. She watched as some of their classmates arrived and suddenly got a brilliant idea. “Hey, Nino,” she said mischievously, “what do you think of this one?” She started singing loudly.

_“Jingle Bells, Chat Noir smells, Rena saves the day!”_ (Beside them, Adrien and Marinette suddenly started sputtering.)

_“Carapace is an ace,”_ (Alya winked at Nino, who flushed.)

_“And Queen Bee is so gay!”_ (Alya gave an overdramatic flick of her wrist.)

“Hey!” Chloe yelled indignantly.

“Chat Noir doesn’t smell!” Marinette protested. “I mean, sometimes he smells a bit like cheese, but, it isn’t bad!!” Adrien gaped at her in surprise and blushed deeply.

Looking at the red faces all around her, Alya couldn’t help it and burst out laughing. Wiping her tears, she regarded them all with a smirk.

“You all need to work on maintaining your secret identities better,” she said. The four of them immediately paled.

“I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marinette stuttered.

“Ye-yeah, really, Alya,” Adrien agreed.

“You’ve obviously lost your mind,” Chloe said disdainfully.

“Mm hmm,” Alya said, her eyes twinkling as the three retreated.

“What was that all about?” Nino asked, still feigning innocence. Alya grinned at him.

“Oh, nothing. I’ll let you get back to your _Wayzz_ ,” she intentionally emphasized the ‘zz,’ “of remixing Jingle Bells.”

His jaw dropped as he stared at her. “Wh-what, how?”

She giggled and played with the chain around her neck. “I got mine before you did, DJ,” she said, winking at him. “Of course I remember how the bracelet used to look on the old man.” She walked off, allowing her hips to sway a bit more than usual. She was sure he was still watching with his mouth open.

Trixx was right. Teasing them all was very satisfying.


	9. Chapter 9

**December 9th - “Marshmallows”**

Nooroo zipped quietly down the stairs and into the dark kitchen. Master had finally gone to bed, for once too tired to remember to forbid his kwami from leaving the room. He couldn’t get too far away from his Miraculous stone, but Master insisted on only feeding him enough to power a transformation, and Nooroo was _starving_.

_‘Just a snack,’_ he told himself as he phased into the pantry. _‘Just a quick snack and I’ll go right back.’_

The aroma of the food around him filled his senses and he allowed himself a deep, relaxing breath. _So many good things in the world…_ he’d almost forgotten how to appreciate the little pleasures in life. He fluttered from shelf to shelf, looking for a snack. Finally, on the highest shelf, he spotted a bag of marshmallows. Giggling in delight, he settled himself beside it and opened it up. He savored his first bite with a sigh of bliss.

Usually, fresh fruit was his preferred meal, but after months of being forced to eat so he could use his powers to _hurt_ people… he just wanted something pure and simple. And the sugar in these reminded him of Tikki and her endless, cheerful optimism. _Oh, how he missed his friends…._

He froze as the pantry door opened and quickly hid behind the bag he was eating from.

“Plagg?” a young voice whispered. _Adrien_. Nooroo winced. Part of him (a very large, insistent part) wanted to zoom out to the boy and beg the young Chat Noir to hide him and keep him safe, but… the boy wasn’t ready. Not ready to face Hawkmoth, and certainly not ready to face who Hawkmoth really was. Maybe soon, he and Ladybug would be strong enough to take on his master and win, but Nooroo wasn’t willing to place them in harm’s way by trying to speed things up. For now, he had to remain hidden.

But Adrien was now searching the shelves for his own wayward kwami and getting far too close to Nooroo’s hiding spot.

“Plagg, is that you?”

“Negative, I am a marshmallow.”

Nooroo covered his mouth in horror as soon as the words slipped out. _He shouldn’t have said anything! **Why** had he said something??_

“Very funny, Plagg,” Adrien said. “Now come out. You’ve already eaten your cheese ration for the night. We need to get back to my room before—”

“Adrien, what are you doing up?” Gabriel’s voice echoed through the kitchen. Nooroo felt his stomach plummet. There was no chance his disappearance had gone unnoticed.

“Uh, I… was just, um… getting a midnight snack!” Adrien said.

“Go back to your room, such a thing is bad for your skin,” Gabriel ordered. Nooroo heard Adrien reluctantly trudge out of the kitchen. Peeking out, he made sure they were alone before he slowly floated down to face his master. Gabriel studied him for a few moments.

“You didn’t reveal yourself to him,” he said, sounding surprised.

“No, Master,” Nooroo said quietly.

“Why not?”

_‘Because I don’t want him to face you until I’m sure he can win,’_ the kwami thought silently.

“Do you really want to fight your own son?” he asked instead. “Especially during the holiday season?”

Gabriel hummed in consideration, and looked around the kitchen. “Am I not feeding you enough?”

“No, no! I mean, yes!” Nooroo said quickly. “It’s enough. You don’t need to worry about your transformation wearing off prematurely. I just, sometimes… crave a treat,” he admitted shamefacedly. “I’ll control myself better from now on, Master.”

“I know I am not your ideal master, Nooroo,” Gabriel said, narrowing his eyes, “but I gain nothing by being unnecessarily cruel to you. What were you eating?”

“Just a few marshmallows.”

“Fine,” Gabriel reached up and grabbed the bag from the shelf. “Come, you can snack on these while I work on my new line a bit longer.”

Scarcely able to believe his good fortune, Nooroo zipped after him eagerly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I want it known: I do not endorse this relationship. Nooroo is, in essence, a prisoner of war being exploited by his captor, and I eagerly await Gabe’s downfall with the rest of you. I’ll probably even throw a party.
> 
> Until then, I wanted to give Nooroo a little bit of Christmas cheer, and he’s unfortunately attached to the Father of the Year, so…. I had to work with what I’ve got.)


	10. Chapter 10

**December 10th - “Decorating”**

Chat Noir chased after his lady in high spirits. He had a Santa hat on his head, mistletoe on the end of his tail (just in case!), and a song on his lips as they flew over the rooftops. But this wasn’t just any patrol. They’d already delivered toys to the children’s hospital, cookies and sweets to the police station, and now they had been tasked with finishing up the decorations on the enormous tree in the town square and lighting it up.

This was gonna be awesome.

“Hey, my lady,” he called as they finally made it to the town square. “I bet I can hang up more garland than you!”

Ladybug grinned at him from beneath her own Santa hat. “You’re on, kitty!”

Chat ended up losing spectacularly, mostly because Ladybug was just so amazing. (The fact that he’d gotten distracted by the shiny tinsel in the garland he was supposed to be hanging up was totally beside the point—and no, he was not tangled up in it—he could get himself out just fine—ok, please, my lady, help me, it’s caught on my tail!! Ow, ow, ow….)

By the time he was finally free, a crowd had started to gather. The two superheroes grinned at each other and took turns doing acrobatics and other showy moves as they finished the decorations, resulting in cheers and applause that made their cheeks redder than they already were.

Unfortunately, during one of their final moves, they miscommunicated somehow, and ended up crashing spectacularly into each other, midair. Even better, when they landed, Chat’s bad luck caught up with him in full force, and he smashed into the generator that had been intended to run the lights of the big tree. The crowd surged forward, anxious to make sure that their superheroes were okay, which they were, of course. The Miraculous armor was very useful. But neither of them felt any better when they heard the mayor’s horrified gasp at the mess they’d made.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Mayor,” Ladybug said, wincing as she helped her partner to his feet. “We’ll help clean it up—”

“Oh, don’t worry, Ladybug,” Chloe interjected, for once coming to the rescue. “We’ll just get another one. Right, Daddy?”

“R-right, my sweet,” he said, hesitantly. “But I’m afraid we’ll have to cancel the festivities for tonight at least. There’s no way to get a replacement in time.”

All around, the crowd groaned and grumbled and booed. People had been looking forward to this for weeks! Especially with the two superheroes leading the ceremony. Chat watched as Ladybug’s shoulders drooped and quickly determined to cheer her up.

“Aww, don’t be sad, Bugaboo,” he said jauntily. “Maybe all we need is a Lucky Charm…?” he indicated the yo-yo at her hip.

“I don’t think it works like that, Chat,” she said, biting her lip.

“Worth a shot, though, right?” he insisted, “after all, ‘tis the season for hope. And joy. And _miracles_.” He winked at her. She smiled weakly back.

“Guess there’s nothing to do but try,” she finally said. She threw up her yo-yo. “ _Lucky Charm!”_

Chat blinked at the tiny object that fell into her hand. _Okay, not entirely what he was going for…_ He’d been hoping for a tool, or spare part, or maybe even a replacement generator, but what they got was….

“A lighter?” Ladybug said, with an air of disbelief.

“What are you gonna do with that?” Chloe asked disdainfully, “set the tree on fire?” The crowd started laughing. Ladybug looked around, her anxiety obviously increasing as more and more people jokingly offered suggestions.

“Don’t worry, my lady,” Chat said bracingly, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“That’s just it, Chat,” Ladybug said softly, “I’ve got nothing! No ideas! I… I think the stress of this season is getting to me,” she finally admitted. Chat blinked and realized just how tired his lady looked. Before he could open his mouth, though, her yo-yo shot out and she gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m gonna go think for a bit,” she said, her eyes shining with tears, “maybe something will come to me.”

She flew away before Chat could say anything.


	11. Chapter 11

**December 11th - “The Tree”**

“I can’t believe it,” Alya squealed as she set down the box her best friend had asked her to get from storage, “our first Christmas as roomies!”

Marinette laughed. “Are you excited about the surprise I promised, or the fact that I have my mother’s snickerdoodle recipe?” she asked as she finished arranging the lights on the tree.

“Is both an option? I feel like I need both. Yes, both,” Alya said, nodding and grinning shamelessly. Marinette giggled. Then she bent down and opened the box. Her eyes twinkling, she held up two handmade ornaments for her best friend to see.

Alya gasped in delight. “You didn’t!” she exclaimed, taking the tiny Ladybug and Chat Noir figurines from her. “You DID!!” she squealed as she saw what else was in the box. Giggling, Marinette held out another figure for her friend. Alya quickly put Ladybug and Chat Noir back in the box as she reached out to cradle the new ornament.

“Oh, look at you, you sexy Evil Mistress,” she crooned to the Lady Wifi figurine. Marinette snickered.

“I’m pretty sure you were considered a minion, just like all the rest,” she said. Alya stuck her tongue out at her friend.

“Still, one of the best, right?”

“Of course,” Marinette said, smiling as she hung the Ladybug and Chat Noir figurines on the highest branches of the tree.

“Ooo, _‘Ladybug and Chat Noir, sittin’ in a tree,’_ ” Alya sang. Marinette stuck her tongue out at her friend. “And why do you two get to be on top?” Alya asked slyly.

“Because we always ‘come out on top,’” Marinette quipped with a grin. She started to put the other ornaments on the tree, each one carefully crafted to represent the akumas they had faced over the years. Rogercop went in between some red and blue lights. She hung Stoneheart and Horrificator close together, smiling at the memory their recent engagement, then looked up to see Alya covering her mouth, looking nearly purple as she tried to stifle her snickers.

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked. It was too much for her friend, who burst out laughing so hard she was doubled over.

“You—you… you made the ornaments,” Alya wheezed in between laughs.

“Yeah, so?” Marinette was confused.

“And—Oh God—you’re arranging the tree… so you’re—you’re literally sitting on top of the bodies of your defeated enemies!!” Alya finally managed to get out. She shook her head. “I never thought you had it in you!!” She burst out laughing again.

Marinette paled. “That’s not—I don’t want—I didn’t mean to offend anyone!” she squeaked, scandalized. She quickly grabbed for the ornaments, but Alya stopped her.

“Girl, chill, I’m teasing,” she said, hanging Lady Wifi on the tree under Ladybug. “Speaking for those whom you _saved_ ,” she stressed the word, holding Marinette’s chin so the girl had to look at her, “I’m glad you and your crazy tomcat always come out on top. And I’m more than happy to be a part of this tree,” she added, looking at it fondly. “It’s gonna look amazing!”

“You don’t think it’ll be too much?” Marinette whimpered.

“Absolutely not,” Alya said, “in fact, it’s going on my blog. But,” she added, holding up the Puppeteer ornament, “if we all get possessed again ‘cause someone saw these awesome ornaments and wanted them, I’m soo blaming you.”

“If Manon starts throwing a fit, I’ll just give her her present early,” Marinette said. “I got her a set of those Ladybug and Chat Noir action figures you showed me earlier.”

Alya snickered. “You know what she’s gonna do with them, right?” she held up Puppeteer again and mimicked her little voice, “And now, I have you right where I want you, Ladybug and Chat Noir! Under the mistletoe! Now, _kiss_!!”

“She’s gotten a lot better now that she’s older,” Marinette said with a snort. “And please don’t give the crazy cat any ideas, Alya.”

Alya just raised an eyebrow. Clearly, her friend didn’t know her that well. This called for more mistletoe. And to drop a few words to a certain blond. Until then… She reached into the box and grabbed another akuma ornament, intent on finishing the decorating. She shot her friend a mischievous smile.

“Hey, Mari, let’s put Evillustrator between Lady and Chat and then invite Adrien over and see how long it takes before he snaps!”

“Alya!”

_Spoiler alert: it didn’t take long._


	12. Chapter 12

**December 12th - “Christmas Movie”**

“Adrien!” Gabriel called. His son appeared in the doorway. “Adrien, have you seen my copy of that old Christmas special we used to watch each year?”

“No, Father,” Adrien said solemnly. Gabriel frowned. Natalie and the Gorilla couldn’t find it either.

“Well, if you find it, bring it to me at once,” he ordered.

“Yes, Father.”

Adrien left the room and didn’t stop until he was in his own bedroom. He shut the door behind him and finally, slowly, let out the breath he’d been holding.

“I don’t get it,” Plagg said, popping out of his shirt as Adrien made for the TV. “You have several streaming services. Why are you both getting all worked up about a movie? You can literally watch it anytime!”

“Because, Plagg,” Adrien said, pulling the DVD from the spot he’d hidden it earlier, “this is the movie we used to watch with Mom. She made sure we’d watch it as a family every year. Even if it wasn’t exactly on Christmas Day. But Dad’s determined to get rid of everything of hers in the house. He probably wants to throw it away. I can’t let him have it.”

Plagg studied him for a moment, then shook his head. “Humans are so weird,” he declared as he went back to his cheese stash.

Later that night, Adrien slipped the disk into the player and curled up on one end of the couch to watch it. Every so often, his kwami saw his mouth move along with the lines of movie, as though he knew them by heart. Plagg decided not to bother him, even when the boy fell asleep not even halfway through it. He thought about waking his Chosen up; he was sure to be sore if he slept too long in that position, after all.

However, just as he was about to open his mouth, all he could do was hide when Adrien’s door opened and his father came in.

At first, Plagg thought he was going to wake his son; maybe scold him for stealing the movie and lying about it. Instead, Gabriel Agreste said nothing. He simply sat down on the opposite end of the couch and continued to watch the movie as Adrien slept obliviously beside him. Like his son, there were times when his mouth seemed to move along with the lines on the screen without him even realizing it.

When it was over, he turned off the TV and then, to Plagg’s surprise, adjusted his son’s position on the couch so he’d be more comfortable. He even fetched a blanket from Adrien’s bed and covered him.

Then, without a word, Gabriel left, closing the door behind him.


	13. Chapter 13

**December 13th - “Christmas Cookies”**

_A lone, dark figure watched silently as civilians moved around in the building next door. They were completely oblivious to his presence._

_Perfect._

**BEGIN MISSION**

**PHASE 1: INFILTRATION**

_He easily leapt the distance in between the two buildings. Not up to the top floor. Not to the now-closed bakery. But just around the corner was another door, that led to the living quarters above. The owners were too trusting, even in this big city, and it was still early. The door was unlocked. He slipped in, unheard and unseen._

_The baker and his wife were still in the shop, getting ready for business the next day. No need to bother with them. His objective was above. He crept up the stairs._

**PHASE 1: COMPLETE.**

**BEGIN** **PHASE 2: ABDUCTION**

_The kitchen was dark, but his target could still be seen clearly at the counter. He allowed himself a very-satisfying deep breath._

_Big mistake._

_Instantly, the kitchen lights flicked on and he whirled around to face his worst nightmare: his enemy, already armed and opening fire!_

**MISSION ABORT!! MISSION ABORT!!**

Chat Noir sputtered and spat as the tiny kwami in front of him squirted him with her spray bottle. Yowling, he tried to get away from her, but she was quicker than he was, and continued to dart into his face. _How was that even possible?_ The spray bottle was bigger than she was!! Vaguely, an old movie script about coconuts and African swallows crossed his mind, but he forced it away as he desperately tried one last time to get to his objective.

“Oh, no you don’t, alley cat!” Tikki shouted, getting in his way again and continuing to spray him mercilessly, “Marinette made those cookies specially for me!!”

He was forced back against his will, hissing at the tiny goddess.

“What is going on down here??” a voice called from upstairs. Chat froze.

**MY COVER HAS BEEN BLOWN. I REPEAT, MY COVER HAS BEEN BLOWN!**

“Oh, for crying out loud, you two,” Marinette said with exasperation, finally coming into the kitchen and rolling her eyes at them.

“She started it!” Chat protested, pointing at the far-too-smug kwami sitting calmly by the plate of freshly-baked Christmas cookies.

“Ladies do not start fights,” Tikki said primly, “but we can finish them!”

“Anytime, bug-mouse,” Chat growled.

“Did you say something, drowned rat?” she asked sweetly.

“Knock it off, both of you!” Marinette yelled. She sighed at her partner. “Did you already eat _all_ the ones I made for you?”

“They were really good,” Chat whimpered, looking up at her through puppy-dog eyes. She couldn’t resist his puppy-dog eyes.

**NEW MISSION: NEGOTIATIONS**

“He can’t have any more extra calories before the Christmas Fashion Show,” Tikki reminded them in a sing-song voice. Chat hissed at her.

**…ARE BEING SABOTAGED.**

Marinette shook her head. “Tikki’s right, Chat,” she said regretfully. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.” Chat groaned and thrust out his lip in a full-blown pout, but she wouldn’t be swayed.

**NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BROKEN DOWN.**

Only one thing left to do.

**BEGIN PHASE 3: ESCAPE**

With a sudden lunge, Chat snatched at the plate of cookies, successfully grabbing one as Tikki shrieked indignantly and Marinette yelped in surprise. In the next instant, he was out the door, cackling madly, with a spotted kwami hot on his heels.

_“I’LL HAVE YOUR EARS FOR A TROPHY, YOU MANGY FELINE!! JUST SEE IF I DON’T!!”_

**MISSION: SUCCESSFUL.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because post-reveal Adrien is gonna be a mess and we all know it.

**December 14th - “Secret Santa”**

Adrien buried his face in his hands as he sat in his chair. Plagg swooped down and patted him on his shoulder awkwardly.

“Well, at least it wasn’t the love of your life,” he pointed out. Adrien groaned in despair.

“It’s still the next-worst thing!” he cried. “Her best friend! I poisoned her best friend!! Marinette will never forgive me!! And that’s if Alya makes it out of this _alive_! If she dies… Mari’s gonna kill me!!”

“Probably,” Plagg nodded unhelpfully. Adrien’s eyes went wide as his imaginative brain gave him even more scenarios.

“Oh my God, she’s gonna hate me forever and swear vengeance on her friend’s grave and turn into Ladybug and hunt me to the ends of the earth to string me up with her yoyo and call for a Lucky Charm—and with my luck it’ll be a spoon like Copycat—and she’ll use it to carve out my heart and offer it up as a sacrifice to get her best friend back—” Adrien took a deep, gasping breath, “and I’ll totally deserve it to have my soul trapped in darkness for the rest of eternity if it means Alya’s okay, but Marinette will still never forgive me, much less love me, and we’ll never even get to go on a date!!” He threw his head back into his hands in utter despair.

“Wow,” Plagg blinked at him.

“You are no help,” Adrien muttered from his own lap.

He had been so hopeful too! When their teacher had announced that their class would do a Secret Santa for the holidays, he’d been hoping to get Marinette, but had been ecstatic to get another good friend’s name instead. At first, he’d planned to get Alya something to do with Ladybug (and then they could totally geek out together while Marinette turned lovely shades of pink and red nearby), but then they’d had a study session with a bunch of their friends and Alya’d let it slip that everyone kept giving her Ladybug stuff because of her blog and it was getting old, fast. Not that she didn’t love Ladybug, of course, but she still wanted people to see that she was more than that. And then the next day, he’d over heard her and Marinette talking about how they’d kill for some chocolate.

He’d immediately gone and bought the best chocolate he could find (without going too overboard. He didn’t think Alya would appreciate gold flakes in her chocolate, or anything like that) and had immediately wrapped it, labeled it and placed it under the tree. He’d been so proud. He’d seen his father do last-minute shopping the day of, or even worse, give a gift card that wasn’t even wrapped or anything. The look on his mother’s face before she’d masked it had made Adrien determined to never be _that guy_. And now, here he was with his first opportunity to give gifts for Christmas, and his present had been the first one under the tree!

And apparently too close to the heater.

Alya had insisted she was sure the chocolates were fine, of course, after she’d eagerly torn the wrapping off and gasped at the brand name on the box. “Who cares if they look a little lopsided?” she’d assured him when they saw the chocolate was partially melted, “It’s not gonna matter once I eat them!” Then she’d popped several in her mouth.

A few minutes later, she hadn’t felt so good.

Then, she was running to the bathroom.

Marinette had followed after her friend to make sure she was okay, but had soon come back to the classroom with a white face, saying she needed to take Alya’s things with her for the day. She hadn’t even looked at Adrien.

And now, after worrying all afternoon, he’d finally managed to get through to Alya’s mom, who’d told him that Alya had been admitted to the hospital. Which was where Adrien was currently waiting for more information as he desperately hoped and prayed he hadn’t killed one of the few girls his age who treated him like an actual human being instead of a walking billboard.

“Adrien?”

He jumped and looked up to see Alya’s mother smiling down at him.

“Mrs. Cesaire,” he said, leaping to his feet, “I am so sorry about all of this—”

“Relax, dear boy, it’s not your fault,” she patted his shoulder, chuckling.

“But, the melted chocolate—”

“Didn’t do her any favors, I’ll admit,” Marlena said nodding, “but as _my_ daughter, she should’ve known not to eat something that had been sitting out like that. For future reference, my dear, most of the best chocolates have no preservatives and should be stored in a cool, dark place and eaten within a week.” Adrien groaned and hung his head. Marlena just chuckled at him. “She did say to tell you ‘thank you for the delicious chocolate’ anyway.”

“So, she’ll be all right?” he asked hopefully.

“Yes, we’ll be going home soon. Though I wouldn’t go in to see her just yet. She and Marinette were having a very lively discussion about stringing up a cat. It was strange,” Alya’s mother left then, shaking her head.

“Nice knowing ya, kid,” Plagg muttered from his jacket.


	15. Chapter 15

**December 15th - “Caroling”**

_“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let Earth receive her King!”_

Gabriel Agreste hissed under his breath, the page before him still blank. “Natalie!” he barked.

“They’re just carolers, sir, they’ll be gone soon,” Natalie said, appearing in the doorway and already anticipating his request.

“Not soon enough,” he muttered, downing some painkillers as inspiration for his new line continued to evade him. He wondered if the mayor would indulge him and agree to have those annoying people arrested. Probably not. It’d be bad for his “image.” As if anyone had any doubts that Andre Bourgeois was nothing more than a fat, corrupt politician.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” he asked, impatience growing, as the carolers outside transitioned to a slightly-off-key rendition of “Deck the Halls.” He’d like to deck something alright… and have them fall, la, la, la, la to the ground!

“They’ll probably be gone by the time I get out there, sir.”

He shook his head and tried desperately to ignore it. Vaguely, he wondered if the security system’s steel plating would be enough to drown them all out. With his luck, probably not.

“Don’t we—gah! Do we have any hounds?? I feel like we should _release the hounds_!”

“Careful, sir,” Natalie said, her face still showing no emotion, “your Hawkmoth is showing.”

Gabriel grumbled and threw his pencil onto his desk.

“I am seriously going to akumatize the next person who asks for figgy pudding,” he growled.

_“Now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding—”_

“THAT DOES IT!!”

“Sir, I’m not sure a group of happy carolers are going to be in any fit state to be akumatized,” Natalie pointed out.

“THEN I’LL FIND ME A HOUND!!” Gabriel snarled over his shoulder as he opened the secret passageway to his Evil Villain Lair™.

Natalie just hummed in annoyance and looked over her shoulder in surprise to see Adrien coming towards her, putting on his coat.

 “Natalie, I heard shouting,” the boy said, looking confused, “is everything okay?”

“Just fine,” she said easily, standing in the doorway to block him from coming into the room. “Are you leaving?”

“Yeah, um, just for a bit,” he said, blushing and rubbing his neck, “I heard some of my friends from school outside caroling and thought I’d join them.”

“Remember to take your bodyguard.”

Adrien pouted, but didn’t fight her on it.

“Oh, Adrien?” she said quickly, not daring to glance to the side to see if Gabriel was still there. “You may want to suggest a better singing spot to your friends. They’re disturbing your father.”

“Oh, okay, I can do that!” Adrien said, brightening at the chance to be useful.

“And Adrien,” she couldn’t resist adding, “there’s a loose dog that’s been hanging around the kitchen door for scraps. Could you feed him and take him with you? I believe there’s a shelter a few blocks away. There should be plenty of opportunity for singing along the way.”

“Absolutely!” Adrien said, beaming as he left.

“I heard that,” she heard her employer hiss behind her.

“Once the children are gone, you’ll have no need to ‘release the hounds’ on them, sir,” Natalie said primly. “And we really do need to get moving with this spring collection. I was saving you some trouble.”

“Sometimes I wonder whose side you’re on,” Gabriel grumbled, returning to his desk.

Natalie just allowed herself a little smile.


	16. Chapter 16

**December 16th - “Family”**

“You don’t understand, Tikki, _my life is ruined!!_ ”

Adrien blinked at the sounds coming through the door to his apartment. _Yikes. He wasn’t even technically home yet!_ Cautiously, he opened the door to find Marinette sobbing on the couch. Tikki was patting her shoulder comfortingly, and looked over and gave him a roll of her eyes to let him know the world wasn’t actually ending.

It was just Marinette, being Marinette. His lips quirked into a smile. _God, he loved this woman._

“What’d I miss?” he asked, closing the door and throwing his coat on the back of a chair. Usually he was careful about hanging it up, but the problem in front of him looked like it needed immediate attention.

“The usual,” Tikki said, grinning at him.

“You say that like I’m being overdramatic,” Marinette wailed into her pillow.

“Because you are, dearest,” Tikki crooned, patting her again.

“You just watch!” Marinette said, rising just enough to glare at them both. “Soon—soon you’ll hate me! You’ll realize that I’m fat and ugly and you won’t want me anymore!! And you’ll go have an affair with some gorgeous model and never think of me again!!”

“You let her watch soap operas again, didn’t you?” Adrien said to Tikki.

“Jerry Springer reruns, actually,” Tikki admitted. “It was that or Dr. Phil, and I didn’t want her to try to psychoanalyze Plagg again.”

“Fair enough,” Adrien agreed. He sat down beside his wife and gathered her into his arms, pulling her into his lap. It was quite a feat, considering she was a bit heavier than she normally was.

“Now listen here, my gorgeous, sweet, _wonderful_ lady—”

“I’m a watermelon!!” Marinette wailed in despair.

Now Adrien was well and truly lost. “What?” he asked dumbly.

“I looked like a watermelon!” she continued to cry, “all big, and red, and huge, with black spots like seeds….” Adrien buried his face in her hair to stifle his laughter.

“Tikki,” he wheezed, “you let her transform??”

“I thought it’d make her feel better!” the kwami protested. “The magic has helped boost her confidence before!”

“And now you’re both laughing at me!” Marinette cried. “Let’s all laugh at the big, fat, Ladybug!!”

“First off,” Adrien said, kissing her temple, “you are _not_ fat, you’re pregnant. With my kitten, I might add,” he said, cradling her belly lovingly. As always, the action seemed to calm his wife down and she leaned into his touch, taking a deep, shuddering breath. “You being big right now means the baby is _healthy_ and _happy_. Which makes _me_ very happy.” He kissed his way down to her cheek.

“Second, you are wearing my ring,” he said, lacing their fingers together and rubbing his own fingers against her wedding band. “Which means you are _mine_. Cats are very possessive, my lady. So, there is no way I’m _ever_ going to forget you or never think about you again.”

“But what if you find somebody—”

“I chose _you_ ,” he insisted, kissing her jawline and down to her neck. “And you chose me. And that means I think you’re the best. No silly little model can compare. I should know, I am one,” he added with a wink. That coaxed a small smile out of her.

“Don’t leave me,” she begged, curling up into his lap more comfortably.

“I have everything I have _ever_ wanted, right here,” he said fervently, tightening his grip on her. Finally, she relaxed. Adrien allowed himself a glance around their apartment. It was smaller than what he was used to, but it didn’t make his words any less true. Their house was warm and cozy, with Marinette’s designer touches all over the place, making it into a home. The tiny Christmas tree in the corner was nothing fancy, but they’d decorated it together, laughing the whole time. Their friends were just a phone call away and their kwamis were now curled up on a pillow together.

Nestled in his arms was a girl who loved him more than life itself, and wasn’t afraid to show it. And cradled against their hands was the tiny, innocent, not-yet-started life they had created between them. _His family_. They were worth more to him than anything he could think of.

Tonight, he was the richest man in the world.


	17. Chapter 17

**December 17th - “Christmas Music”**

If there was one thing Ivan knew, it was that Mylene loved to sing. Whether it was musical theatre, or lullabies when she had to babysit, or even just humming happily while at home, that girl absolutely loved to sing.

Him? He couldn’t sing. And he was never going to try to scream metal in front of Mylene again, ever. But he could hold a candle. Or shake a rattle or tambourine. And if he quietly hummed along, it didn’t sound too bad. Anything to make his girlfriend happy, right?

Even if it meant going out into the freezing cold, trudging through the snow, and trying desperately to hang onto loose pages while the wind blew around them and it grew steadily darker. At least they were in front of Le Grand Paris Hotel now and there was plenty of light. Sadly, their candles had blown out a while ago, and most of the people around them didn’t even look up to greet their bright song.

Ivan didn’t care. He was with Mylene, and she looked so happy, standing next to him. Her cheeks were pink as she sang along with the rest of their group, her voice high and clear.

_“Here we come a-wassailing, among the leaves so green…”_

What the heck is wassailing anyway?? Ivan wondered. It sounded like ‘wailing,’ or ‘assaulting’ somebody with sounds.

“It’s an old word for caroling,” Mylene said softly, so only he could hear her. Ivan felt his face burn. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud! The song continued around them unbroken. “Don’t worry,” she said, grinning at him, her eyes still bright, “I had to look it up too.” She giggled and Ivan felt something warm inside him grow. 

No matter what else happened, he was glad he was here tonight.

“Ugh, Daddy, couldn’t we have paid for some _professional_ singers??”

Ivan winced as the nasally voice cut through the song, making it die a stuttering death as the singers stared agape at the blatant, loud rudeness. Great. Scratch what he said before. He didn’t want to be here anymore. Not with _her_ here.

“I’m surprised you’re even out here showing your face, scaredy-cat,” Chloe continued, sneering at Mylene. “Isn’t after dark past your bedtime?”

“Mylene’s ten times the singer you’ll ever be,” Ivan growled, putting himself between his girlfriend and her tormentor.

Chloe smirked at him. “Prove it,” she said, cockily. “Oh, wait, you can’t,” she said in mock-concern, “Since your voice obviously sounds like a box of rocks.” She laughed cruelly at her own joke.

Ivan forced himself to remain calm. Her jibe couldn’t hurt him, he already knew he couldn’t sing. His gaze fell on a group of their classmates, standing nearby to listen. Nino met his eyes and raised an eyebrow. Ivan smirked.

But even a box of rocks could do _something_.

“Ready, Mylene?” he asked, turning toward his girlfriend. She looked at him wildly, not knowing what he was talking about. He hadn’t told her about the secret lessons Nino had been giving him, after all.

So, her eyes went round when he started beat-boxing the introduction to her favorite Christmas song. Her mouth dropped open, but she seemed to come to herself when he winked at her. Either that or she had listened to the song enough that she came in on the first verse automatically.

_“Come, they told me, pa rum pum pum pum,”_ she sang, her eyes sparkling and her voice clear and true, _“a newborn King to see, pa rum pum pum pum….”_ She started fading as she realized everyone was staring at her.

“Aw, yeah!” Alix shouted encouragingly, coming up behind her and throwing an arm around her shoulder. _“Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum,”_ she belted out loudly, gesturing to the rest of their friends to join in, _“to lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum….”_

Soon, the rest of the people around them had joined in, singing with all their might, and Nino even joined Ivan on the beat-boxing. The two of them shared a fist bump. All around were happy, smiling faces. Some people tried to drown out their neighbors playfully, singing louder and louder, and Ivan spotted at least one couple dancing under a street lamp nearby. He caught Mylene’s eye and grinned.

He could get used to singing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Inspired by Pentatonix’s version of the Little Drummer Boy, which you should all listen to if you haven’t heard it already. Seriously. They’re amazing.)


	18. Chapter 18

**December 18th - “Warm”**

“Father!” Adrien called out as the man was leaving. Gabriel sighed and nodded to Natalie to continue to the car without him. They were going to be late.

“What is it, Adrien?” he asked, turning to face his son. “I have a very tight schedule today.”

“I know!” Adrien said, surprisingly still bright and cheerful. “I wanted to give you an early Christmas present to help! It’s getting cold after all!” He held out a simple, but festive box to his father. Gabriel wasted no time opening it. Better to get this over with. Inside, was a pale blue scarf.

“Now we match!” Adrien said, beaming as he indicated his own scarf around his neck. His father raised an eyebrow. All the two scarves had in common was the shade, and Adrien’s appeared to be a much higher quality. The boy seemed to realize it too, as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I had to buy yours in a store, since I don’t know how to knit, but I tried to get similar colors.”

“Perhaps next time, you should go to the same store and get the same brand,” the fashion designer in Gabriel couldn’t help pointing out. “Where did you get yours?”

In front of him, Adrien froze, his eyes growing large as he stared at his father. A rival company, then. He reached out and felt Adrien’s scarf with a practiced hand.

“Good quality yarn, even rows, lightweight, but I’m sure it’ll keep you plenty warm… ah, but there seems to be an uneven ridge here,” he said, holding up one of the ends. Adrien took it back with trembling hands, his eyes glued to it as his mouth moved silently, as though he was reading a name. Gabriel rolled his eyes. It was probably from one of those good-for-nothing friends, hoping to gain favor with an Agreste by getting him something from a designer store, not even realizing it was defective. And his son was so innocent, he hadn’t noticed. He pursed his lips. “It’s unnoticeable to the naked eye, but it’s still there. Ask your friends to get you something better than clearance, next time. You have an image to maintain.”

“It wasn’t clearance,” Adrien muttered lowly, sounding defiant. “This is meant to be here.” His father sighed. He didn’t have time to deal with this anymore.

“If you say so,” he said dismissively, turning to go. “In any case, thank you for the gift. It was unnecessary, but thoughtful.” He left, still holding his scarf, though he had no intention of putting it on. Despite the boy’s good intentions, it would clash horribly with his dark-red theme.

He was unaware that his son had sunk slowly to the ground behind him.

“Plagg,” Adrien whispered as the door closed behind his father. His kwami swooped out of his hiding place.

“I thought that scarf was a bit too personal a gift from someone as stuck-up as—”

“Claws out.”

“Wait, what are—?” Plagg screeched as he was sucked into the ring.

Chat Noir’s eyes narrowed as he clutched the scarf in his hand. He had a princess to interrogate.

At least his father was right about the scarf keeping him warm.

Right now, his blood was boiling.

_‘Was this why?’_ he wondered as he ran to his room to exit out of the window from there. He didn’t want his father to see Chat Noir suddenly leaving the house, after all. _‘Was this why Marinette has never been able to even talk with me? Has she been laughing behind my back the whole time? She said she hated liars, but here she is, the biggest hypocrite of all, keeping something like this from me! Why didn’t she tell me? And after I showed off my new scarf so proudly… she must’ve been chuckling so hard. And now, she can’t even speak to me without trying not to bust a gut, because I’m so stupid…. A designer’s son who hadn’t noticed that she’d even signed the damn thing!!’_

He stopped on a nearby rooftop, trying to catch his breath and clear his thoughts. Normally, such a short trip was no problem, but all he could do was pant as his chest squeezed inside him. His head was spinning. He needed to think, but he couldn’t… he couldn’t….

_‘Surely, surely, there must be a good reason,’_ he thought, trying to reason with himself as he started again towards her house. _‘Father is busy, maybe he commissioned Marinette to make it for me.’_ But no, his father hadn’t recognized it at all, and had called her signature a defect.

The truth was staring him in the face.

He leapt down and de-transformed behind a tree in the park. Then, to his surprise, he saw the person he’d come to see, sketching idly as she watched the snow-covered carousel. He advanced on her, his blood still boiling. He’d call her out on her lie of omission—ask her why—

She turned towards him and her face lit up in surprise and delight as she greeted him. The cold threatening to freeze him inside finally stopped him in his tracks, and his face crumpled as he sank to the ground again.

“Adrien?? Adrien, are you okay?” he heard her voice beside him. Her hands felt like branding irons against the cold of his skin, and all the misdirected rage he’d felt towards her suddenly melted.

He wasn’t really angry at _her,_ after all.

“He didn’t—he didn’t even—” he gasped out, babbling incoherently. He was going to hate himself later for falling apart like this in front of her, but he couldn’t stop the flood now.

“Don’t worry,” Marinette said, “whatever’s wrong, we’ll deal with it together. I’ve got you, Adrien.” Her arms went around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. _Warmly_.

And with that, the ice inside him cracked.


	19. Chapter 19

**December 19th - “Pretend BF/GF for family dinner”**

“Well, it’s been real, but I think I’m gonna head home for the night.”

“Here, let me walk you out.”

They both ignored the rest of her family’s rather-awkward farewells as they headed for the door. In fact, it wasn’t until they were safely outside that Kim and Alix looked at each other and promptly burst out laughing. Soon, Alix was doubled over and Kim was wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

“I gotta ask,” he said in between gasps. “What brought this on again?”

“Ugh! Jalil, (the snitch,) made a comment on how I wasn’t very ‘ladylike’ in front of my grandmother,” Alix said, shaking her head. “And… well, you saw how she is.”

“Yeah, and I thought the women in _my_ family were overbearing,” Kim said with a grimace.

“I had to defend myself! So, I basically told them I don’t really like all that prim-and-proper bull, which turned into a full-blown argument on how my father is an unfit parent for trying to raise me on his own…,” she sighed, rubbing her temples, “which _somehow_ turned into my grandmother insisting on meeting my ‘boyfriend,’ even though I’ve told her multiple times we’re just friends, and dressing me up in… in… this _frou-frou fluffy disaster_!!” she exclaimed, gesturing to her dress.

“Yeah, you kinda look like Marinette’s birthday cake,” Kim snickered.

“If I weren’t in heels, I’d kick you for that,” Alix muttered. She looked down at herself again. “Oh my God, I do.”

They both burst out laughing again.

“Let us never speak of this night again,” Alix said solemnly.

“Are you kidding? And why, pray tell, would I miss out on the chance to tease you about this for the rest of your life?” Kim asked slyly.

“Because, if you mention it, I might let it slip how you tried to show my father and brother that you had _some_ brains in that thick skull of yours and started talking about how your favorite pharaoh was Agamemnon,” Alix shot back. Kim frowned.

“I wondered why your brother choked on his water,” he said. “Was he not a good pharaoh?”

“He was a Greek king during the Trojan War,” Alix deadpanned.

“Damn. Well, can you blame me?” Kim exclaimed. “I was trying to talk to two dudes who think a bunch of dead guys are interesting!!”

“Trust me, I get it,” Alix said, patting his arm in sympathy. “Sometimes they find cool stuff, like artifacts or really creepy dead bodies, but I’m really not interested in who-married-who 3000 years ago.”

“Wait, how did we get here? Are you walking me home?” Kim said suddenly, looking around and realizing they’d been walking away from her house the whole time.

“It seemed appropriate,” Alix said, shrugging. “After all, I’m the one who dragged you out here tonight.” Kim looked down at her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“ _And_ I needed to get away from my crazy family for a while,” she admitted.

“Wanna make a race of it?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Dude. High heels,” she reminded him shortly. “And whoever invented these needs to be shot,” she added, grimacing as she lifted a foot to examine what she was pretty sure was permanent damage.

“Aww, well, you need all the help you can get, small fry,” he teased, leaning his arm on top of her head just to be annoying. She growled at him and shook him off.

“Hey, ‘God stops the growing process when he’s sure his creation is perfect,’” she quoted flawlessly, sticking her nose in the air. “It’s not my fault _you_ took so long in the oven.”

“Do you and Mylene just sit around and think of comebacks to short jokes?”

“I will kick you in the shins,” Alix hissed. Kim laughed.

“Assaulted by a pink pastry!” he mocked-moaned, pressing a hand to his head for added effect, “and that’s how I ended my night with Alix’s crazy family.”

“It does seem fitting,” she agreed. She took a deep breath. “And, by the way, thank you. For coming out tonight.” She blushed lightly, but hoped it was too dark for him to notice.

“No problem,” Kim said lightly. “Anytime you want to shock your family with my awesomeness, you’ve got my number.” They both chuckled.

“Oh my God, the look on my grandmother’s face when you started talking about trans rights and Hatshepsut,” Alix cackled. “I think you nearly gave her a heart attack!”

“Did I get that one wrong too? She was the one who dressed like a dude, right? Beard and all?”

“Yeah.”


	20. Chapter 20

**December 20th - “Christmas Lights”**

(Continued from Dec. 10th – “Decorating”)

Ladybug sat on edge of Notre Dame, keeping the gargoyles company as she allowed tears to flow down her cheeks. She really shouldn’t be here. She could see her home from here, for crying out loud! She should just go back to her room, de-transform, and let Tikki rest.

But if she did that, she knew her well-meaning kwami would dedicate at least part of the night to a pep-talk, and right now she didn’t want to hear about how she “could’ve handled things differently,” or “maybe just missed an important clue” or, even worse, how she was “misusing her powers like that, anyway!”

She didn’t want to think about what else she could’ve done. How she could’ve made it better. She’d messed up. As Ladybug. Ladybug never messed up! Ladybug always had the plan. Ladybug always made everything all right!

But this time, she hadn’t.

She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees. What a time for Marinette’s clumsiness and indecision to shine through her normally-infallible mask! Right when everyone was watching! When everyone was counting on her! Added to the rest of the stress of the season (tests and projects due in school, extra hours at the bakery, finding and/or making the perfect gift for everyone close to her), she’d simply broken down when faced with this new challenge.

Tikki would say she was being too hard on herself. But being hard on herself was what made her a good Ladybug!

“My Lady on top of Our Lady,” a familiar voice remarked behind her. “Would you call that Double Lady, or Lady-ception?” She snorted as he leaned carelessly on the gargoyle next to her.

“Lady-ception would only happen if I was _in_ the church—oh, why am I trying to rationalize your crazy word play??” she exclaimed. Chat Noir snickered.

“Because you love me and want to _play_ with me?” he replied, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. She sighed.

“Not tonight, Chat,” she said, turning away. She heard him pause for a moment and then step closer to her. She was about to snap at him to leave her alone when she heard his soft tone.

“Ladybug, do you trust me?”

“What kind of a question is that?” she exclaimed, turning back towards him. He wasn’t even looking at her, he was gazing out across the river. “Of course I do! I trust you with my life!”

“Would you trust me enough to come with me now, no questions asked?” he asked, glancing at her and holding out his hand. Ladybug blinked at him. Her instinctual response was to immediately ask, ‘why?’ but that was a question. And he’d just asked her not to ask questions. And she really did trust him… surely she could give him this?

She took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

“Chat, I—” He silenced her with a single finger to the lips.

“Hold on,” he warned her. He looped an arm around her waist and took out his baton, and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck as they took off into the sky.

“I could’ve just followed you,” she muttered into his collarbone, not used to the jarring leaps he used to lift them over the rooftops.

“That wouldn’t be as much fun!” he replied, and she could practically hear the satisfied smile on his face as he tightened his grip on her. “No peeking now!” But try as she might, her head automatically went up when she heard a large crowd cheering below them.

The square. He’d brought them back to the square. And it looked even more full than when she’d left! Ladybug could only gape at him when they landed in the middle. _Why had he brought her back here??_

“And now,” the mayor’s voice boomed over the crowd, “let the Lighting Ceremony commence!”

“Umm, Mr. Mayor, I…,” she glanced over at the still-wrecked generator over by the tree. No replacement. They couldn’t still expect her to pull off some kind of Christmas miracle?!

“My Lady,” Chat Noir said, bowing to her, “would you do the honors?” He held something out to her. Ladybug blinked at it.

“Chat, what…?”

It was a candle. A plain, simple, white candle. She looked around, only now noticing that every single person in the crowd was holding one.

“Well, when your Lucky Charm didn’t fix the generator, I got to thinking that maybe the generator wasn’t the problem,” Chat explained, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “We’ve all gotten so used to you saving the day and fixing everything… and maybe that isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Especially around Christmastime. We’ve all got to come together to make this work. AM I RIGHT??” He called to the crowd. They screamed back a resounding “YES!!” punctuated by cheers, whoops, and clapping.

He turned back to her, grinning. “But we still need somebody to get us started,” he said with a wink. “So how about it, my lady? Will you light my candle?”

Ladybug burst out laughing and shook her head at the incorrigible tomcat. Taking out the lighter the Lucky Charm had given her, she lit it. Then she watched as Chat carefully used his candle to light the mayor’s and several others’, who quickly dispersed themselves into the crowd, lighting people’s candles as they went. The fire spread quickly, and Ladybug heard several groups start to sing Christmas songs as the square became brighter and brighter.

Ladybug beamed as Chat Noir came back over to stand beside her. The cold, empty despair she’d felt before had been replaced by a warm glow that was reflected all around her. Chat grinned at her.

“Pound it?” he asked, holding up his hand. Then he frowned at it when he realized he was still holding his candle.

Ladybug smiled, reached up, and kissed his cheek instead.

“Merry Christmas, Chat.”


	21. Chapter 21

**December 21st - “Freezing”**

(continued from Dec. 18th - "Warm")

Of all the things that Marinette had expected to happen today, holding a suddenly-crying Adrien Agreste was not one of them.

She’d seen him striding towards her out of the corner of her eye, and had turned and greeted him, thrilled to see him. Then she’d realized two things: one, he wasn’t wearing a coat or anything nearly warm enough for a cold day like today except his scarf, and two, holy-crap-he’d-just-crumpled-to-the-ground!

She’d rushed to him, worried, only to find him babbling about something, his breath coming in gasping heaves. One touch of his skin had bothered her even more; he was freezing! She’d hugged him and murmured a few encouraging phrases while trying to figure out why’d he’d be out here like this…

And then he’d broken down completely.

Marinette considered herself fairly rational, and had never bought into the stupid belief that boys shouldn’t cry or whatnot, but she was still just a teenage girl, and her crush was suddenly kneeling in the snow in front of her, sobbing.

**_OHMYGOSH, OHMYGOSH, WHAT-DO-I-DO???_ **

_Okay_ , she told herself, _just breathe. You want to help him. Well, first off—no coat. And gasping in all that freezing air like that—he’s going to catch hypothermia! NO, DON’T PANIC!! Get him out of here and someplace warm!_

She wasn’t sure if he heard her call his name or give him instructions, but he limply allowed himself to be led back to the bakery. Her parents were both busy, (thank God, she wasn’t sure how to explain this,) so she led him up the stairs to her room where they wouldn’t be disturbed.

It wasn’t until after she’d sat him on her chaise and wrapped a blanket around him that she heard him speak.

“Do you hate me?” he asked, sounding miserable.

“What??” she exclaimed, totally shocked. “Of course not! Why would you think that??

“You think I’m stupid, then?”

“WHAT??” Okay, now she was floored. Where was this coming from?? Maybe he was just embarrassed? “No, of course not! Everybody cries now and then!!”

“You lied to me,” Adrien said, glaring up at her. Marinette froze as he held up the end of his scarf that she’d woven her signature into. “You let me believe this was from my father, but he didn’t recognize it at all.”

“Oh,” she said weakly, feeling the color drain from her face. “Well, I—you see… I didn’t want to spoil—you just looked so happy!—and I…. You’re right,” she said, finally, her shoulders sagging. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you. I was afraid it would just make you angry, and on your birthday too! And I know your father must be busy—”

“Don’t you _dare_ defend him,” Adrien snarled. “He stole something of yours and presented it as his own—no, worse! He probably had Natalie do it so he wouldn’t get his own hands dirty! I—I….” He buried his face in his hands.

“I _hate_ him.”

Marinette stood stock-still as that pronouncement was accompanied by more hot tears flowing through Adrien’s fingers.

“I hate him, but I love him cause he’s my father, but he’s a jerk, and I know I shouldn’t call him that ‘cause it’s rude but it’s true, and I just wish—I wish… I DON’T EVEN KNOW!” he yelled, frustrated. He took a deep breath. “I thought, if nothing else, I could at least trust him, you know? He’s my father. But I… I can’t.”

“So, you don’t trust me anymore either?” Marinette asked softly. She didn’t want to make this all about her, she just wanted to help, but she wasn’t sure she could do that if Adrien saw her as part of the problem. Maybe she needed to leave? To her relief, Adrien looked up at her for a moment and shook his head.

“I came here because I thought I hated you. I thought I was angry at you, but I’m not,” he admitted. He gave a little laugh. “At least _you_ had good intentions.”

“Didn’t help much, though,” she muttered. She bit her lip. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked hopefully.

He let out another laugh. “You’ve already given me more than I deserve,” he said, indicating his scarf and the blanket around his shoulders.

“If you’re still sad, then it wasn’t enough,” Marinette said firmly. He thought for a moment.

“Could I…,” Adrien asked slowly, “could I have another hug? I just… I feel so cold inside… like I’m freezing… and that was the one thing that—oof!”

Marinette hugged him tightly, smiling when she felt him laugh and hug her back. It was a bit awkward; since she was standing and he was sitting down, so he was really just hugging her stomach, but it seemed to do the trick. When she felt him start to relax, however, she realized that he had no intention of letting her go, even if he was already warm again.

So, she pushed him away just enough to sit beside him, thinking he might want to lean his head against her shoulder or something, but he just pouted (he _pouted_ at her!!) and pushed her down onto the chaise until she was laying down, where he buried his face back into her stomach.

She giggled, her face bright red, both at the intimacy of their position and the fact that—

“That tickles!” she protested, squirming as he nuzzled her.

“But you make such a comfy pillow,” he countered, laying his head back on her stomach contentedly. After a few moments, she felt him relax completely.

“Ugh,” she said, giving up and carding her fingers through his hair automatically. “You are such a lap cat.”

“Only if I’m _your_ lap cat, my lady,” he answered sleepily. She rolled her eyes at Chat’s typical response—wait. She wasn’t with Chat.

They both froze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, on that lovely note, the end!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying out a slightly different style here. Not sure I like it.

**December 22nd - “Silent Night”**

The candles are lit and the tree is decorated, but the house still feels cold and empty, Adrien decides.

It must be the silence.

When _She_ was here, the lights burned brightly and the ornaments twinkled from their places on the tree. When _She_ was here, there was always Christmas music playing somewhere in the house, and people would often hum along as they moved from room to room. When _She_ was here… there were warm kisses and soft hands running through his hair while she sang him to sleep with her favorite Christmas song.

But she’s not here anymore.

It’s a cold, hard truth that his life has gotten much colder. And harder, he adds with a wry smile. He looks around his room and the pale light spilling in through the windows. He always thought the moon looked lonely… even surrounded by stars. Half-shrouded in darkness, no warm, happy colors—like the bright red outside his window!

Adrien blinks and rushes for the button on his remote to unlock the panel, and Ladybug comes whirling in with a small flurry of snow.

“Oops! Sorry about the mess,” she laughs, “it wasn’t supposed to snow anymore tonight.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” he quickly assures her as they close the window behind her. “So, uhh… what can I do for you?”

“Well, two things,” she says coyly. “Number one, I’m kinda playing Santa for a mutual acquaintance of ours. You know Marinette, right? She said she was in your class.”

“Yeah, of course!” he says brightly. Ladybug smiles and holds out a small package.

“She meant to give it to your bodyguard when he came by the bakery earlier, but she just missed him,” she explains, blushing a bit as he eagerly takes it and digs in. “Luckily, I stopped by for some sweets too, and told her it’d be no trouble to deliver it.”

“Thank you,” he breaths, looking at his new mittens in delight. Marinette makes the best gifts! He looks at Ladybug with a happy smile. “And, if you could, tell her ‘thank you’ too?”

“S-sure,” she says, “Of course! Glad you like them!”

“And what was the second reason?”

“Huh?” she looks at him wildly.

“You said you had two reasons for coming here,” Adrien reminds her.

“Oh! Right!” Ladybug laughs uneasily. “I, um… just wanted to check up on you. Make sure everything was okay… I mean, what with the whole debacle we had last year with Santa….”

“Oh. Right.” Adrien says, once more reminded that’s been over a year since—

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories,” Ladybug says, looking ashamed of herself.

“It’s okay,” he says. “It’s not your fault.”

“Can I ask… why is it so dark in here?” she asks, looking around his room. Her eyes widen. “You weren’t about to go to sleep, were you? Am I keeping you up??”

“No, no,” he assures her. “I’ll be up for a while. It’s hard to fall asleep on Christmas Eve without… well, never mind.” He gestures to his television. “Would you… like to watch a show with me?”

Bashfully, Ladybug agrees and they sit on the couch. Well, opposite ends of the couch, but her just being there is making the whole night better, and Adrien is willing to take whatever he can get. They end up watching some sort of news special of events going on downtown, mostly featuring singers from around the country.

Ladybug is silent, but smiling happily beside him, until one choir breaks into a traditional rendition of “Silent Night.” Adrien can’t quite believe his ears when she starts singing along quietly; her voice is clear and true, and sounds so much like _Hers_ … and his body relaxes automatically.

As he drifts off to sleep, he wonders if its pure luck that brought her here tonight, to sing the same song his mother used to sing, or if maybe it’s something more.


	23. Chapter 23

**December 23rd - “Mistletoe”**

“So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how predictable was this akuma?” Chat Noir asked with a grin.

“Twelve,” Ladybug huffed, peeking out from their hiding spot to locate the monstrosity who was still zapping every citizen she could see. “I’m honestly surprised Hawkmoth didn’t try this last year.”

“Well, Santa _is_ a much bigger target.”

“Or he could just enjoy Christmas like a normal person!”

“Aww, but what is Christmas without seeing my favorite Bug in action?” Chat countered, leaning close to her. She pushed him away by the nose.

“She’s getting closer,” Ladybug muttered.

“I’m ready! Ready to pucker up!” he said, rubbing his hands in anticipation. Ladybug facepalmed.

“Is that why you didn’t want us to split up?” she exclaimed. “Chat, if she zaps us—!”

“FOUND YOU!” the akuma shrieked, aiming at them. They both dove out of the way as mistletoe bloomed above where they’d just been standing.

Ladybug didn’t dare use her yo-yo to attack the villain, that was how they’d lost Chat’s baton—it was now hanging above several kissing couples, completely covered in mistletoe. Every time the akuma zapped someone, a sprig of mistletoe would appear over their head, and they were magically compelled to kiss whoever was closest to them. Not the worst akuma by any means, but still annoying, and embarrassing, and the kissing couples didn’t seem to be able to _stop_ … so potentially problematic. Especially since the akuma still wanted their Miraculouses for her master.

And despite Chat Noir’s eagerness, Ladybug had another blonde she’d like to kiss.

Somehow they managed to evade the akuma once more, hiding behind a chimney on some random rooftop.

“Got any ideas?” Chat asked. Ladybug sighed. They knew the akuma was in her lipgloss, which the villain had inconveniently placed in a pocket earlier. Only one thing left to do.

“ _Lucky Charm!_ ” she called, throwing her yo-yo up.  “Are you kidding me??” she shrieked as the object fell into her hands. Mistletoe. More freaking mistletoe. Beside her, Chat chortled.

“Looks like I’m getting that kiss after all, huh, Bugaboo?”

_Maybe. But on **my** terms_, was her immediate thought. Then she stopped. _Wait. That could work…._

“Chat, can I trust you to be a distraction?” she asked quickly. He blinked at her in surprise.

“Sure, my lady, just tell me where…,” he held up his hand.

“No, Chat Noir. Can I trust you to be a distraction _and stop when I need you to_?” she emphasized.

He stared at her for a moment, the wheels turning, then he looked down at her charm, and back up to her. “Are you serious??”

“Give me your tail.”

She was pretty sure he was too shocked to move as she tied the sprig onto the end of his tail and then tossed it so it was hanging above their heads. “Can you keep it there?” she asked.

His eyes flickered to it as his cheeks grew increasingly redder. “Ye-es,” he said slowly.

“She has to get close enough for one of us to reach her pocket. Ready? Just make it look natural,” she said, stepping closer to him. He was blushing now, and looked uncertain as she pulled him close and pressed her lips to his.

_Huh, he tastes like peppermint,_ she thought. Maybe he’d been eating a candy cane earlier? _Still, not unpleasant…_ even though he was frozen in front of her and apparently unable to move.

_Oh, for crying out loud! He was the one who always tried to kiss her, and now that he was able to, he was just standing there?? The akuma would never believe_ —they heard their enemy approaching.

“C’mon, Chat,” she hissed, pulling away just enough to growl at him. “I need you to—mphff!!”

She was cut off as her partner suddenly _moved_ , wrapping one arm around her and placing his other hand at the base of her skull; all the better to pull her firmly against him as his mouth moved over hers.

_Oh. Oh my._

She felt her knees go weak.

Some minutes later, she still couldn’t look him in the eye.

“So… _that_ just happened,” she said lamely, trying to make a joke.

“Yeah,” he said softly, looking out over the rooftops.

_Another day, another akuma_ , she told herself. _Just a job_. They had been successful, after all. The akuma, finding them kissing under a mistletoe and thinking they were under her spell, had gotten close in order to steal their jewels, and they’d quickly taken her down, restoring the city as always.

The problem was… she and Chat _hadn’t_ been under her spell and had retained their memories. Which was making things… somewhat awkward now.

 “Ladybug?” Chat Noir called softly, still looking out over their city. “Do you think there’ll ever come a day when we might do that for real? No akumas or magic spells?”

Ladybug paused. Ordinarily, she’d immediately say no. She had Adrien. She loved Adrien. But, she’d loved him for awhile now and nothing had happened between them. Maybe nothing would….

And she’d enjoyed it. She’d enjoyed kissing Chat. Much more than she’d expected to.

“Who knows, kitty,” she said finally. “We’ll see.” She took off then, and didn’t dare look back to see whatever hopeful expression he had on his face.


	24. Chapter 24

**December 24th - “Christmas Eve”**

“Oh, Sabine, thank you, I’m so sorry about all this,” Nadja said, handing her friend the last bag.

“No worries,” Sabine assured her, “as a working mother, I’ve been there too. And we’ll have lots of fun, won’t we, Manon?” Beside her mother, the little girl just stood there silently, glaring at the ground.

“Oh, Manon,” Nadja sighed. “I promise I’ll make it up to you, okay? I just really need to go in today.”

Manon remained sullenly silent, even as her mother kissed her goodbye and waved to her through the window until she was out of sight.

“Well, Manon, shall we go up?” Sabine said invitingly. “You can play with Marinette until the bakery closes, and then we can all make tomorrow’s Christmas goodies together! Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Manon just took her bag and climbed the stairs.

Up in her room, Marinette was just about to beat her own high score on Ultimate Mecha Strike III when her trapdoor opened and a little girl came stomping up, followed by Sabine.

“Manon?” she said in surprise, pausing her game to see the little girl throw herself face first onto the chaise. Her mother gave her an apologetic smile.

“The station called everyone in for a meeting,” she explained, “so Manon will be spending the evening with us. She’s… a bit disappointed. Do what you can to cheer her up, will you? I’ll be back as soon as the afternoon rush is over.”

“Ok, Maman,” Marinette agreed, waving as her mother went down the stairs. She looked over at Manon’s prone form. ‘A bit disappointed’ was an understatement. Not that she could blame the girl. It was Christmas Eve.

“Manon?” she called softly. No reply. She looked over to where Tikki was carefully hiding herself, but the kwami just shrugged. Thinking quickly, she got out her Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls.

“Well, hello, Little Lady,” she said, moving the Chat Noir doll into Manon’s sight and trying to mimic his voice. “How meow-velous to have you come to play with us again!” Manon just turned her head. Marinette tried Ladybug next.

“Oh, come now, Manon,” she said, using a squeaky voice (trying to imitate her own voice without making it obvious was really hard!), “superheroes have to try to make the best of any situation! If you tell me what’s wrong, I’m sure we can do something to make it better!”

“Santa Claus isn’t real.”

“What?” Marinette blinked. Of all the complaints she’d been prepared to field from the child, that one had been nowhere on the list.

“I asked Santa Claus to let Mommy have a family night with me for Christmas,” Manon sighed. “But last night, she just put on a movie and fell asleep. And tonight, she has to work. I bet something will happen tomorrow too. And she’ll just buy something and say it’s from Santa. She doesn’t even take the price tags off anymore. Santa Claus doesn’t exist.”

“Oh no, Manon, I’m sure that—”

“I saw my presents in her closet when I went to get her a blankie after she fell asleep last night,” Manon said glumly, sitting up but still staring at the floor. “Most of them were marked, ‘From Santa.’”

“Maybe Santa made an early stop!” Marinette rationalized. “I mean, think about it; so many children, all in one night? He probably makes early stops everywhere to make sure all the extra-special girls and boys get their presents!” Manon gave her a little smile.

“Do you still believe in Santa?” she asked

“Of course!” Marinette declared. “I even fought—er, met him last year! Big red coat and hat, sleigh, reindeer, the whole bit! And guess what? He _dabs_!” she whispered conspiratorially. Manon giggled.

“Really?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly,” Marinette said solemnly. Manon thought for a moment.

“But what about my family night?” she asked, in not-quite-a-whine.

“Christmas isn’t over yet,” Marinette reminded her, winking. “Let’s have some fun for now, and see what happens.”

To her relief, Manon agreed, and they spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the dolls. Together, they even made one of the akumatized Santa (he was much scarier with Manon’s cutting skills). By the time Sabine came up to get them to make cookies, Manon was smiling and laughing as usual.

Marinette excused herself, saying she wanted to Facetime with Alya for a few minutes. Then, as soon as her room was clear, she transformed and went leaping across the rooftops.

She had a good idea what the meeting at the TV station was for. Akumas were a pretty big deal, after all, and the reporters always wanted better ratings.

Sure enough…

“The helicopter pilots won’t get any closer to the action unless we double their pay!” One executive was shouting. “The last one got turned into a clown!”

“But we _need_ better shots and some semblance of dialog!” another countered. “We need—”

“—An exclusive?” Ladybug interrupted smoothly, opening the door with a flourish. She smiled at the exclamations and greetings from the people inside. A quick promise for her and Chat Noir to meet with them _after the holidays_ to arrange after-battle interviews and exclusives after each akuma was all they really needed.

A few moments later, a crowd of people streamed out of the building, all of them looking happy to be going back to their families on Christmas Eve. Ladybug waited until she saw one familiar figure walking briskly in the direction of the bakery, then she raced back to her own room and de-transformed. She had only started to help with the cookie decorating when Nadja burst in the door.

The look on Manon’s face made it all worth it.


	25. Chapter 25

**December 25th - “Merry Christmas”**

The best part of knowing your superhero-partner-turned-enemy’s identity was… the phone calls, Adrien thought, grinning to himself as Marinette’s picture showed up on his phone. He answered it.

“Hello?”

“ _DID YOU LEAVE A DEAD BIRD ON MY BED???_ ” his classmate shrieked at him. Adrien snickered.

“It’s how cats show affection, my lady,” he said, throwing himself on his couch. “Merry Christmas! I even tied a ribbon around its neck!”

“ _That’s just sick, Chat, and you know it!_ ”

“There should’ve been a mouse with it,” he lied, trying to stop himself from laughing as he did so. “Did it fall somewhere into your room?”

“ _OH MY GOD!!_ ” she shrieked, obviously tearing her room apart looking for the supposed mouse. Adrien tried very hard to stop himself from laughing.

“ _She’s not going to show you any mercy during the next akuma fight,_ ” another voice warned him over the phone as Marinette continued to yell in the background. _“There’s been talk of tying you up and using your own baton against you, piñata-style.”_

“Thanks for the heads up, Tikki,” he said cheerfully. He heard the little kwami sigh.

“ _You sure you won’t reconsider?_ ” she asked hopefully. “ _If you come back to our side, I’m sure we can figure something out._ ” He looked around his room, making sure he wouldn’t be overheard, before replying.

“I already told you both,” most of his cheer dissipating at the familiar topic, “I agree with my father: I want my mother back. I don’t necessarily agree with his methods, but I’m not going to try to stop him anymore.”

“ _Then give the ring to someone else!_ ” Marinette yelled in the background, taking the phone from her kwami. Adrien smiled. The sound of her voice always made him feel better. Even when she was angry with him.

“No can do, Bug-a-boo,” he said in a sing-song voice. “That would count as ‘trying to stop him.’ Besides, you’d miss me too much.” She just groaned. He grinned. “I didn’t hear any long denials there, Bug.”

“ _There’s no mouse, is there_ ,” she deadpanned.

“No,” he chuckled. There was a breath of silence for a moment.

“ _Why haven’t you told him about me yet?_ ” she asked quietly. Adrien frowned.

“Because we both know what he’d do,” he said. Chat Noir may not be her partner anymore, but he still didn’t want his classmate to be constantly hunted by monsters until she collapsed from exhaustion. “Besides, _you_ haven’t exposed either of us to the media, either.”

“ _I don’t think anybody’d believe me_ ,” she muttered.

“Whatever the reason, it’s deeply appreciated,” he said.

“ _You’re sure about this?”_ she couldn’t help asking again, as she always did. “ _Even though you know the consequences?”_

“Dad thinks he can rig the spell to take the life of prisoner, a murderer who’s in there for life and won’t be missed.”

_“I don’t think that’s how the magic works,”_ Marinette said uneasily.

“Which is why we’re still at odds,” Adrien sighed. He heard her sigh as well.

“ _I really do miss you, kitty_ ,” she said softly. He smiled, his whole body warming at her admission.

“Me too, my lady.”

_“I got you something for Christmas. It should be getting through Natalie any minute now. Don’t worry, it’s not a bomb.”_

He laughed. “As if you would ever use any actual weapons to defeat your enemies, Buginette,” he joked. Then he sat up, realizing something. “Oh my—Marinette. Buginette. No wonder you hated that nickname so much!”

“ _You nearly gave me a heart attack every time you used it,_ ” she confirmed. He laughed.

“Well, thank you in advance for the Christmas present, my lady,” he said. “Anything I can get you in return?”

“ _No more dead birds_ ,” she growled. “ _Or **any** dead animals, for that matter. And if you could convince your Hawkdaddy not to akumatize anyone this Christmas, I’d like to spend it with my family_.”

Adrien chortled. “Hawkdaddy? Oh, I’m so gonna use that.”

“ _Just stay safe, Ad—Chat._ ”

“You can use my name, you know. We both know who I am,” he said, smiling.

“ _No way. The only way I’m staying sane is keeping you two separate in my mind_ ,” she responded immediately.

“Really?” he asked, surprised. “Knowing you two are the same is part of what’s keeping me grounded.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

“ _I have to go_ ,” Marinette said, her voice sounding choked. His heart ached at the sob she was obviously holding back. “ _Merry Christmas, Chat. I wish I could give you what you want most, but….”_

“I understand,” he assured her. “Merry Christmas, Buginette.”

The line went dead.

...

End.


End file.
